


stairway to hell (basically)

by trixyeet



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Broken Bones, Fluff, Hurt Spencer Reid, Injury, M/M, Sad Spencer Reid, Worried Derek Morgan, spencer is clumsy, totally unrealistic but humor me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25837462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trixyeet/pseuds/trixyeet
Summary: spencer is sad and clumsy but derek still loves him more than anything.
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Comments: 5
Kudos: 198





	stairway to hell (basically)

**Author's Note:**

> my first cm fic!

Honestly this was just his luck.

just his luck

just his luck that he would manage to fall down the stairs while he was walking up the stairs, and he’s embarrassed. 

After yet another painfully, sleep depriving case, Spencer had been trudging to his boyfriends house to eat takeout and sleep. He had hoped for a slumber void of nightmares that came with Derek’s presence, yet, now he was receiving a different sort of nightmare. 

Spencer had claimed three hours and twenty-six minutes of sleep throughout the entire duration of the case, most of which happened on the plane ride back from Texas. It was nightmare-ridden sure, he jolted from his nap at least five times, each time resulting in Derek patting his hair and lulling him back to sleep-Spence you’re safe, go back to sleep- but it was sleep nonetheless. 

Spencer was deteriorating, his mother’s medication had been changed multiple times in a short period of time and it was coming up on four years since he Hankle case. His knee aches old wounds and everyone on the team knew he was having a hard time which somehow made everything even worse. They all watch him with careful eyes every time he flinches at new people and with less careful eyes at lunch and dinner. He can’t afford to miss any meals and Rossi makes sure Spencer knows that. 

Spencer is sure the only kind of stability he has right now is Derek Morgan.

and he needs that stability, especially after a case like this one. Murdered children and grieving parents, it was a lot of bare even for Spencer: so-called king of compartmentalizing. So he changes into pajamas, gathers some clean clothes from his apartment, and heads over to Derek’s

He trudges up the steps to Derek’s apartment, avoiding the elevators after basically being traumatized during the Portland case. The genius’s eyes are half lidded and his movements are slow, almost like he’s drunk. And technically he is, sleep deprivation can increase your blood alcohol levels to the legal drinking limit if-

suddenly Spencer regrets taking the stairs. 

His ankle turns at a harsh angle after missing the step and the bag on his back weighs him down. Before he can even make a sound of surprise he tumbles down two steps and lands on the linoleum, a heap of limbs. 

It’s no secret that Spencer is somewhat uncoordinated, he’s 6’1 and lanky as can be; he actually falls down a lot more often than he cares to admit. Two steps wasn’t a particularly bad stumble, so he allows himself a few seconds to clear the dizzy fog and sighs so loud it echoes in the stairwell. The few seconds end so he hoists himself up by the railing and- yep there it is.

Theres a sharp stab in his left foot and   
he’s falling back down on the ground as quick as he stood up with a gasp of pain. Spencer huffs at the throbbing in his ankle and breathes through his nose for exactly one minute before he tries again, denying that he actually managed to hurt himself doing something as simple as walking up the stairs. 

So he once again hoists himself up- or tries, he doesn’t make it nearly as far as last time. He gets maybe two feet off the ground before his leg crumples under his weight and he falls back down with a resounding smack. he clenches his eyes shut and bites his lip at the newfound pain that comes with moving.

fuck

Spencer breathes for a few minutes before tentatively reaching for the injured limb but as he does so his past knee injury makes itself known. A string ungodly words leave his lips and he’s angry and stressed.

He’s so so tired- he just wants to go upstairs with his boyfriend and sleep and pretend everything is okay for another few hours before another case arrives or his mother’s sanitarium calls him again with worse news or before nightmares can plague his sleep and he’s pissed off that he, the genius of the FBI, could manage to injure himself from a simple stumble down a couple of stairs. His foot throbs and so does his knee. Spencer is trying to focus on his breathing when suddenly his eyes become wet and his breath hitches. 

Now he’s sitting on the floor, at the bottom of the stairs of his boyfriends apartment complex at two in the fucking morning crying because he’s fallen and he can’t get up. 

And there’s no one around so he lets himself cry. Fat, hearty tears drip down his cheeks and his body shakes. His left leg hurts and he cries a little bit harder. His mother always said crying was a sign of bravery, but he definitely doesn’t feel very brave. 

Spencer digs his palms into his eyes and cries harder at the thought of his mother’s condition and he cries at all the things he’s been given in the last few months. He cries about his mom, about her diagnosis, about how he’s at the age most schizophrenic breaks start happening. He cries about memories of Hankel, the aching in his foot, new and old, he cries about sleep deprivation, he cries about-

“Oh my God, Spencer?” 

shit 

he quickly sucks in the rest of his tears and removes his hands from his head. Spencer looks up and there’s his perfect boyfriend, standing at the top of the stairs with such concern in his eyes that Spencer just starts crying again. He’s delirious from lack of sleep so he doesn’t think twice before making grabby hands at his boyfriend who’s hurrying down the steps. 

-  
-  
-

Derek is worried about his boyfriend. They made a pact not to profile each other but it’s hard when he’s actively watching Spencer fall apart. 

And Derek tries not to pry, but he can’t help it when Spencer is so obviously having a difficult time. But every time Derek tries to help he’s silenced with a “Im fine Der’” or a “just haven’t had my coffee yet” or worst of all “Morgan, stop pushing.” They have been dating for a year and a half and have been friends for longer, so Derek knows Spencer’s triggers and destructive behaviors. He also knows that Spencer is the king of compartmentalizing. Because he basically didn’t have a parental figure growing up, Spencer doesnt know what the hell healthy even means. 

For these reasons, Derek is going to ask Spencer to move in with him, tonight. Well not really for those reasons, exactly. He wants to live with his boyfriend because he loves him and hates when he leaves, but also so he can keep an eye on the kid, maybe show him how to live a little easier and maybe get him to eat a little more who knows. 

Speaking of which, the pizza is getting cold and there’s no Spencer to be found. His boyfriend lives roughly 10 minutes away, and Derek is sure there’s no traffic at three in the morning. It’s been fifty minutes since they landed in Quantico, and it normally takes Spencer thirty, thirty-five minutes tops to grab clothes and meet at Derek’s apartment. He sends a quick “everything okay?” to Spencer but it doesn’t go through, the rain outside is blocking the signal, so he dons a coat and heads outside to get a few more bars. Clooney whines as Derek closes the door, but he’s too focused on the noise coming from the stairwell to- 

His jaw falls slack at the sight before him 

“Oh my God, Spencer?”

Derek blinks hard, trying to figure out what happened because his boy is propped up on the wall next to the stairs sobbing hard, like he had only seen after bad nightmares. 

Derek makes his way down the stairs and is even more unsettled as Spencer extends his arms for his boyfriend, non-verbally pleading for touch and Derek obviously provides. 

He wraps his arms around his sobbing boyfriend, presses a kiss to his temple, and rubs up and down Spencer’s back as he tries to deduce what happened here. He understood his boyfriend was having a tonight time with everything lately but Derek definitely didn’t expect to find him propped up on the floor crying his eyes out and shaking like a leaf. Derek rocks him back and forth.

After a few minutes Spencer’s breathing evens out and Derek pulls back, keeping their fingers intertwined. He uses his other hand to carefully wipe tears from the genius’ cheeks, Spencer leans into the touch. 

Derek speaks first, he wants desperately to ask what happened but all he can manage is, “Are you okay?” Spencer whispers a barely audible “no”

that’s a first 

and it breaks Derek’s heart

Spencer looks up at his partner with doe eyes, his lashes are shiny with tears and fresh ones fill his eyes. He looks pitiful and he knows it, Derek’s heart cracks once more and he kisses away new tears before speaking softly,

“You wanna tell me why your sitting at the bottom of the stairs crying?”

Spencer sniffs violently, trying to clear his airway enough to explain to Derek how he managed to put himself in this position but all he can get out is “‘fell”

Derek raises an eyebrow, understanding Spencer’s nonverbal state but still not being able to put it together. Spencer trips all the time, what could- oh. He bites his lip and looks accusingly at the staircase before glancing at his weepy boyfriend.

“You fell down the stairs?” His voice shakes because of course it would be Spencer that falls down the stairs at two am. Spencer nods, using the heel of his hand to wipe at his eyes. Derek clenches his jaw, trying not to imagine how long his boyfriend had been sitting here weeping, probably hurt or embarrassed or both. He sighs 

“Oh Spence,” Derek looks up and down at the genius, “are you hurt anywhere?” Spencer nods again, and weakly points at his left leg. His breathing has evened out enough for him to talk without bursting into tears again. 

“I, um,” he coughs, “think I hurt my foot, I rolled m’ankle going up the stairs and my knee hurts too...” Derek rubs his shoulder. 

“Can you walk?”

“No, ‘tried earlier but I fell” Derek’s chest pangs with hurt at that thought. He doesn’t hesitate with:

“Can I carry you up?” Spencer looks at his boyfriend, jaw clenched. He’s obviously embarrassed and nervous about his injury but Derek presses yet another peck to his forehead, “I’ll be really gentle, promise.”

Slowly, Spencer nods and Derek wastes no time. He throws the backpack on his back and hooks one arm under Spencer’s back and the other under his upper thigh, mindful of his boyfriends aching knee. Still Spencer whines and grips Derek’s shirt between his fingers, crumbling the fabric. Derek coos, “I know, I’m sorry” and makes his way up the stairs 

-  
-  
-

Spencer lays on the couch, his leg is propped on Derek’s lap, and two towel covered ice packs are sitting on the coffee table. Derek carefully rolls up his boyfriends sweat pants but still receives a hiss in response. It’s obvious Spencer is in a lot of pain, he’s biting his lip and his eyes are clenched shut.

His knee is surprisingly fine. 

It’s a little red and a little swollen from overuse when he was suppose to still  
be taking it easy, but nonetheless Derek rubs gently at the joint and Spencer breathes finally, almost moaning at the relief Derek’s fingers bring. Derek sets an ice pack on the joint and moves down to Spencer’s foot. 

Derek tries to be as gentle as possible while removing the converse sneaker but Spencer still buries his face in the couch and let’s out a high pitch whine- “ow, ow, ow, ow”- alerting Clooney. The dog licks at Spencer’s hand 

Derek slowly peels off Spencer’s purple Beethoven sock. He whistles at the sight.   
The limb is swollen to at least twice it’s size, and it’s purpling around Spencer’s heel and upper ankle. Derek runs a finger along the swelling bubble on the top of the foot and Spencer gasps in pain. 

Spencer takes one look at his leg and covers his eyes- with the swelling and bruising localized he knows he probably broken his foot or at least sprained it to the point where he would be back on crutches for another couple of weeks. It hurts like a mother, and when Derek carefully presses an ice pack too his ankle he can’t help but cry out. 

Derek flinches away from Spencer’s foot and speaks, “Baby this is bad, maybe we should go to th-“

“No, no hospitals!” 

Derek takes another look at the limb in his lap and lets out a breath, “Spencer, I don’t think you can put this off.” 

Spencer’s eyes well up again and Derek acts quickly, rubbing circles on Spencer’s shin with his thumb. “Do you wanna try and sleep? Then we can go first thing in the morning.” 

Spencer looks hesitant, but he figures it’s the best deal he’s gonna get so he nods and lays back on the pillows. 

-  
-  
-

He doesn’t get hardly any sleep.

Despite his pleads to stay away from the hospital, Spencer’s ankle throbs and every time he shifts on the bed he sees stars. And he really wishes that he has a certain someone next to him to run his fingers through his hair but Derek had insisted on sleeping on the couch so he wouldn’t injure his boyfriend any further. 

Attempts prove to be futile as Derek walks into his bedroom the next morning to find Spencer turned away from him, a wet spot on the pillow and tears leaking from his eyes. 

There’s hardly a moment of comfort before he’s rushing Spencer to the emergency room.

So now, here they are on a crisp, white stretcher, Spencer’s foot propped on pillows with an ice pack laying unused beside him. The purple colors had darkened more into black and there was now a more noticeable lump on the top of his foot. 

Spencer is silent as he waits for x-ray results which will tell him a bunch of stuff he already knows. 

“Spence?” 

he snaps out of his daydream to find Derek glaring at him, concerned.

“You alright?”

Spencer contemplates giving a half-ass lie but between the pain and exhaustion he’s word vomiting before he can stop him self 

“‘Embarrassed” he admits

“Embarrassed? What for, baby?” Derek asks. Spencer lets out a choked laugh 

“I fell down the stairs Der’” 

Derek smiles sympathetically and places his hand on his boyfriends forehead 

“Don’t be, those stairs are... really steep! Yeah, and also slippery! I would’ve fallen too! I mean it’s-“ He’s cut off by a shaky breath from Spencer and he suddenly notices the tears cascading down his boyfriend’s face. 

“Spencer, what’s wrong?”

and the dam breaks 

Spencer spills his guts about all the stress he’s been under with his mother and the sleep deprivation and Derek just hugs him, telling him everything will be okay. 

By the end of their cry-sesh, the doctor comes in with an x-ray that shows two fractures, one hairline in the genius’ ankle and another larger fracture on the top of his foot. 

They wrap his leg, toe to below the knee in a purple plaster cast. “You’re gonna need someone to look after you for a few days” the doctor says, and takes full responsibility of his boy before Spencer can resist. 

-  
-  
-

A week later Spencer is standing with crutches under his shoulders 

“Der’ I don’t wanna be a burden to you anymore, Ive been staying here for a week now!” He reasons, but Derek isn’t backing down.

“What if you just stayed here forever?” 

“...what”

“Move in with me Spencer” 

Spencer blinks 

“okay!”


End file.
